As I took a quick glance at my Twitter timeline, I saw a message which said, “RIP Steve Jobs”.

When I first saw it, my first reaction was: “Is this a joke?”.

But things like that don’t get joked around. So I quickly did a search on Google for Steve Jobs, and was greeted with newly published articles (in the past few minutes) of Steve Job’s recent passing, along with other sites related to him.

I quickly scrolled down the searches, clicked into Steve’s Wikipedia (always a good objective information source) and saw that the page had been updated with the date of his death and a section on his passing. It appears that he passed away on Oct 5, 2011 at the age of 56, with his family issuing a statement saying he “died peacefully today“.

Now, I can’t claim to know much about Steve Jobs nor do I make a point to follow any updates about him, Apple, iPod, iPhone or any of the “i” products. I do not use any Apple products (not at the moment). I’m largely disinterested when it comes to technology news and developments, preferring to focus on development of our consciousness vs. tangible goods, and hence my work at PE.

But from whatever I know about him, he struck me as an incredible leader and game changer – someone whom I regard *and* look up to as an inspirational figure in living a life of highest excellence. If you have read the other articles here at PE, you’d know I frequently cite Steve Jobs as an symbol of excellence and success. Steve Jobs had repeatedly proven that limitations are in our mind, and it’s a matter of challenging them to achieve our dreams.

Given his impact in our lives, be it his work in the personal computers (Apple, Macintosh), mobile phones (iPhone), mp3 players (iPod), music distribution (iTunes), tablet computers (iPad) and animation (Pixar), I thought Steve deserved a tribute post at PE. Even though I don’t use any Apple products, Steve (and his team) has undoubtedly made it much easier for people to work, live, and play, with his creations.

This is not something I normally do (writing tribute posts or posts about people for that matter), but Steve has been a true role model to many, in terms of how he lived his life and pursued his dreams – something which many may not be aware of. We may know him as the man behind Apple/iPhone/iPad/etc, but there is much more to Steve Jobs than being just the leader of one of the world’s most valued companies.

By way of this post, I would like to drive awareness on how boldly he had led his life, and 11 personal development lessons we can learn from him.

If you’re neutral to Steve Jobs or not a fan of Steve, that’s fine – for what it’s worth, I’m largely neutral to Steve Jobs and uninvolved with his life’s work (as I mentioned above), and see myself more as someone who distantly respects him as an individual, visionary and game changer. Don’t let your neutrality or bias stop you from learning important (personal development) lessons from this man.

As you read this post, think about how you can apply the lessons to yourself. Don’t just read this post and nod away at each point, then forget about everything you’ve read minutes later. That’ll truly be an incredible shame for yourself. Steve was born a regular person just like any of us, not given anything more or less in terms of his life. At the end of the day, it was how he led his life that made it different from everyone else.

1. Life is what you make it out to be

If you don’t know anything about Steve Jobs other than generic public knowledge, here’s a quick run down of his background:

He was born out of wedlock, to graduate student parents who gave him up for adoption thereafter.

He was adopted and raised in a working class family. His foster father fixed cars for a living.

His biological parents wanted a girl, not a boy.

He dropped out of college, after only 1 semester. His highest qualification was high school.

While he was attending Reed (his college), he would be “sleeping on the floor in friends’ rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple”.

In 1985, he was fired, very publicly, from the very company he founded (Apple), after losing a power struggle with the board of directors. (He would then later return as CEO (in 1997) after Apple bought over NeXT, the company Steve founded after leaving Apple.)

In 2003, he discovered he had cancerous tumor in his pancreas. He would then engage in a long battle with cancer for the next 8 years, till his recent passing.

Most people who didn’t know Steve would assume he probably had a privileged life, had a silver spoon in his mouth, and had his path to success laid out before him.

But it wasn’t the case, as you could see above. He was born out of wedlock. He wasn’t the child his parents wanted. He was given up for adoption. He was fired from the company he created. He was publicly humiliated during that time. And he was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, which ultimately took his life.

While he was not necessarily dealt with the best cards, it didn’t matter a single bit. Rather than complain or let himself be paralyzed by the situations, he made the best out of what he was given – then went to create the kind of life he wanted, eventually becoming the CEO of one of the most valued companies in the world, a billionaire many times over, and one of the most respected people in the world today.

When life gives you a curveball, what do you do? Do you (a) sit and whine about it (b) make the best out of it or (c) throw the curveball back at life and create your home run? Most people do (a) – these are the whiners. Some people do (b) – these people generally do good, but that’s about it. Few people do (c) – these are the true winners.

You always have a choice in how you live your life. Don’t victimize yourself because no matter how bad things may seem at the moment, there are hundreds to hundred thousands of people out there who are worse off than you. When you rise above what you are given, that’s when you soar.

2. Dream big – very big

Before Apple’s rise in the last decade, Microsoft was the undisputed giant in the world of personal computers. Before iPod, mp3 players were known only as mp3 players. Before iTunes, it seemed almost unlikely for anyone would pay for music online, when music piracy was so rampant. Before iPhone, Nokia was the long-time market leader for mobile handsets. Before iPad, there didn’t seem to be a need for tablet computers – PCs and laptops seemed to do the job just fine.

In each situation, no one would have ever thought things would change.

But the status quo was broken, each time, with exceeding results. With each product release, Steve Jobs (and his team) revolutionized the industry and created a new movement – from personal computing, to mp3 players, to music distribution, to mobile phones, to tablet computers.

iPod became integral to the lifestyle of masses, became synonymous with mp3 players, and paved the way to the collapse of CD sales. iTunes became the #1 music vendor in US in 2008, with 10 billion song downloads as of 2010 (after just 7 years of being online). iPhone created a demand for touchscreen phones, broke Nokia’s long-time market leadership and changed the game of the mobile phone industry. iPad 2 sold more than all other tablet PCs combined since the iPad’s release (in 2010) and is expected to account for 83% of the tablet computing market share in US by 2011 (source).

These happened because Steve allowed himself to dream big – to see beyond what was in the present, to think outside the box, to go where no one had ventured before.

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Apple’s Think Different commercial (#9 on the list)

How do you set your goals? Do you base them on what has already been achieved out there? Or do you base them on your boldest, grandest, deepest heart’s desire? The latter is how you’re going to create a movement and shake the world. What are your biggest, wildest dreams? Set them and go for them.

3. The greatest things started somewhere

Steve Jobs started Apple in his parents’ garage, along with high-school buddy Steven Wozniak. Not exactly the most glamorous start for the world’s largest technology company today – Not that it mattered, because it would never have grown if there was never a start in the first place.

I often hear of people saying that they can’t do X because they need to wait for A, B and C to be in place. Fair enough, but are these prerequisites really necessary or are they just excuses not to take action? If we are forever waiting for things to be perfect, when will we start taking action then?

I started Personal Excellence 3 years ago with a free basic WordPress template, a semi-casual introduction post, and no readership to boot. Today it has evolved into one of the top personal development blogs online. As of Oct ’11, we are tracking to hit almost hitting a million pageviews a month. We got from A to B because I didn’t wait to take action. I just launched the blog, despite having and knowing nothing, and took things from there.

Likewise for you, how can you get started on your dreams today, even if in a small capacity? It’s from starting that you get to somewhere. The greatest things were at a time, but just a dream.

4. Certifications don’t matter

“Truth be told, I never graduated from college. And this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.” – Steve Jobs, during his address at Stanford Commencement 2005

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed after just 1 semester. His highest education qualification was high school level. He would become one of the many billionaire school dropouts today who would put the age old belief that certification is essential for success in life to shame.

I’m not saying to quit studying or not to have any cerification. After all, I myself am a college graduate and a product of the formal education system.

If you are studying at the moment, or if you have plans to study/get some form of certification in the future, be conscious of why you are pursuing it, and whether it meets your needs.

For those who are in school – Are you drifting your way through school so you can get a piece of paper at the end of your course, as a ticket to the working world? For those who have earned your certifications – Are you hiding behind them as a safety shield and using them as an excuse not to grow? And for those who don’t have certifications in what you want to pursue in – Are you letting this be an excuse not to pursue what you want to do in life?

5. Live every day like it is your last

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.”

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.”

If you reflect it on yourself, as you living your life to the fullest? Or are you wasting your days away, sleepwalking? If you were to die today, will you die happy or with regrets? What can you do about those regrets now, before it’s too late? What are all the things you want to do before you die? How can you start working on them now?

6. Stop listening to what others say

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

Steve Jobs faced his fair share of naysayers in his lifetime. When he was fired very publicly from Apple in 1985, he was dismissed by the industry as a “flash in the pan” – i.e., had a showy beginning, but with nothing to tell at the end. Business leaders and press saw him as a has-been.

What followed though, was one of the most remarkable comebacks in business history.

After getting fired, Steve went on to create NeXT, a computer platform development company. He also purchased the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd, and later spun it off as Pixar (which was subsequently acquired by Disney in 2006).

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

In 1996, in an ironic twist of events, Apple, after a decade of steady losses since firing Steve Jobs, acquired NeXT for the computer platform system which it was missing. Steve stepped in as interim CEO in 1997, before being appointed as official CEO in 2000.

Under his leadership, Apple was brought back from the brink of bankruptcy, and is today the largest company in the world (surpassing Microsoft in 2011) by both revenue *and* profit. He continued to serve as the CEO until 2011 this year (when he quit to tend to his health).

How’s that for size?

If Steve Jobs had listened to his detractors when he was fired, he would never have achieved the success he did. Rather, he listened to his heart and did what he felt he had to do. Being guided by that led him to realize his goals – many times over.

“People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he ever set for himself.” - Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, on Steve Jobs

7. Do not underestimate the impact you can have on the world

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was just 1 person, but look at how he revolutionized the technology industry and impacted masses with his work. It’s safe to say that iPod, iPhone, iTunes, iPad, among his other creations have positively impacted millions (if not billions) of lives around the world. This would have never happened if he didn’t pursue his dreams.

Likewise for you, there is a world out there waiting for you to impact it. Are you ready to start your revolution?

“Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” — Steve Jobs’ legendary pitch to John Sculley (then PepsiCo CEO) in 1983, to get him to run Apple (Sculley later pushed Jobs out of Apple in 1985)

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” – Steve Jobs

What is the change you want to bring to this world? What do you need to do to make it happen? How can you start your revolution, with effect from today?

8. Failure only happens when you deem it to be so

Steve Jobs was fired from the very company he created. By most people’s standards, this would be the epitome of failure. Most people would give up, hide from the world and wallow in self-pity, right at this point.

Not him though. As I detailed in #6, he went on to create 2 successful companies (NeXT and Pixar), got rehired into Apple, turned it around in one of the biggest comebacks in business history, and made it the biggest technology company today. He never gave up on himself and fought for what he believed in.

Many of you often ask me how I got the confidence to quit everything in my life and plunge right into pursuing my passion back in 2008. How about failure – what if I failed? What would I have done?

Here’s the thing about failure – The biggest lesson I learned about failure is this: There is no failure until you deem it to be so. This means even if you lose all your money, go bankrupt, lose your housing, suffer some major setback, or fall flat on your face, you have not failed. It is only one of the many, many mid-points toward your end goal. The only point you fail is when you give up – because that’s when the story ends.

That’s the reason why I was able to pursue my path so relentlessly, without hesitation, even in the early days when I had no supposed reason to believe everything would work out. I knew as long as I kept going, it was a matter of time before I reached my goal. Anything that was going to happen before that would merely be an occurrence along the journey – nothing more, nothing less.

So if you often hold back in your decision making because you’re afraid to fail, know that failing doesn’t exist until you declare you have failed. So as long as you keep going, and have no intentions to give up on your dreams, you can never fail. It’s a matter of time before you get to where you want to be.

9. Do what you love

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is [...] to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

I talk about the importance of pursuing your passion all the time, with good reason. You have the rest of your life to work, so rather than do something you don’t like THEN retire and do the things you’ve been meaning to do all your life, why not pursue your passion and make that your life’s work? Sure, you *may* have to backtrack a bit where income is concerned, but that’s just temporary. As long as you deliver top value, and keep outdoing yourself (see #11), it’s a matter of time before you achieve *both* passion AND money.

Don’t make yourself work in a job you dislike, because that will be to waste your life away. Do what you love, because that’s what life is about – doing the things you love.

10. Have faith – Never lose hope

“Sometimes life’s going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” – Steve Jobs, on getting fired from Apple back in 1985

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

Even when things looked bleak, Steve always had faith that things would work out okay one day. It kept him going and allowed him to make the best out of his life (see #5).

No matter what rough patch you may be going through now, don’t give up. Don’t lose hope either. As long as you keep going, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. You are not here to suffer – you are here to blossom as an individual. Everything happens for a reason, and it’s up to you to assign that reason. (see #1)

11. Outdo yourself – Over, and over again

As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, I don’t follow any of Apple’s news or of its product releases/updates. Hence, news on iPhone 3/4/5, MacBook Air, iPod mini/nano/shuffle/touch/etc are lost on me.

However, the fact that people care about these models, discuss about them at length and continue to buy them (over and beyond initial hype), shows they do find value in the new models. Be it thinner, lighter, faster, longer battery life, or increased functionality, these upgrades are things which consumers find valuable, and have their lives improved as a result.

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” – Steve Jobs

“None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.” – Jobs responding to whether he did market research for the iPad

What I love about Steve Jobs is how he relentlessly pursued betterment, both in his life and his work. He was already successful in his early years, but this didn’t stop him from wanting to become better. Beyond settling for status quo, he kept pushing for innovation – each time creating one game changing product after another. Because of that, he kept growing, and so did Apple.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

If you look at your past 3-5 year history, have you been outdoing yourself? Or have you been stagnating? What can you do to outdo yourself? As the CEO of your life, what is the new trajectory of growth you want to embark for the next few years?

Concluding

I hope you found this tribute meaningful in some way, and got a few lessons out of it. I learned a few new things about Steve Jobs and Apple in writing this article, which made me even more respectful of their success today. Steve Jobs was indeed an inspirational man with an incredible spirit.

If you could apply just a couple out of the 11 lessons above, I’m sure it will make a world of a difference in your life.

RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011) – A visionary, genius, and legend.

Feel free to share this article with whomever you think would find it useful. As usual, the social media share buttons can be found at the end of this article.

Great Post, Celes! You got a unique writing style. Steve was a giant, a creator. He changes our world. Your post just came after the one I sent earlier with strangely the almost same photgraph. Keep Up, Dean and Felow blogger!

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Hi Alban! You’re right – Steve definitely changed our world. I’m only grateful that we got to experience his creations and (part of) his visions for the world of technology before he passed on.

Dreaming big and certificationless means something unique to me from this post. The only thing holding us back from dreaming big is our own limitations. If we can fly, land on the moon, communicate with each other without wire, than all things are possible. And the only certification we need in this world is from the University of hard knocks and taking action.

Steve Jobs legacy will prevail for a long, long time. I think when people buy Apple products, they are actually buying his philosophies in life. I know I do that. Let’s hope Apple can have another Steve Job or better.

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Hey Jimmy, I fully agree all that’s stopping us are our own limitations. Nothing is impossible – if we set the heart to achieve our goals, we will achieve them.

I look forward to Apple’s development after Steve Jobs. Things may not be the same and there may be challenges, but it will be a great learning journey for everyone for sure.

Freddy Wang

Unbelievable great piece inspirational tribute written by someone who just learned much about Steve. Celes, I like how you really dig into the details. The simple truth that makes him insanely great is that Steve was just like most of us. Start his life from the very humble working class family and live his way the way he see it should be. He failed like us all the time. He never succumbed to mediocrity, his willingness to learn and crazy enough to dream the big make him a visionary iconic leader who make a dent in this universe and change the world.

Many find him as a great inventor, creator and visionary thinker. It’s not all the shiny Apple products that make him insanely great. Apple itself and the culture that he brought to us are the products of his vision. He has never write a single line of code, he never design a single piece of hardware, he says No all the time. He is simply foolish enough to bet all he had in his life. He was willing to go down the very humiliating path of his life, out from Apple in 1985. Spent most of his fortune on NeXT and Pixar, he just never gave up. He was plain hungry all the time. He has the gut and patience to stick around the tech world, make a come back in 1997 to rescue Apple.

The most important epiphany I discovered about Steve is how he is able to let things go and open the path to the future. He didn’t see his past as a failure. When he is back to Apple in 1997, he was no longer fight all his ego with board members to prove he was right and visionary. When he was in Pixar and NeXT he gave all his men the freedom to think different and invent their way. He curated the past for better future. He connected all the dots. He took away our floppy drive, insisted CD-ROM as the default media. Again he later took away CD/DVD, camcorders, music players then change the way people listen to music with their iPods. He gave us the bestest smartphone with simple ease of us, robbing away the popular Qwerty keypad and the Stylus on the available smartphones then. Now every smartphones look almost like an iPhone. And the last, he took away the clunky complicated desktop computer experience in exchange of simpler elegant touch driven tablet computing experience. With iPad even my aging parents can use it for reading and playing games. He pushed us to the edge of future.

Steve might have left us, his legacy and vision will stay with us way too long beyond his death. I would love to share with all the readers this song by David Pogue about Steve’s life.

Disclaimer: I am a big fan of Apple. I hope this is not a biased view of my own.

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Hey Freddy, exactly what you said. Thank you so much for your open sharing – your passion and respect for Steve really shines through every word you wrote. :hug: And I agree with a lot of what you wrote. When I was reading up in detail about his life/Apple while writing the article, I was very impressed at how he would create a vision each time, far from what the industry was doing, and make it happen. Vs. accurately “predicting” what the industry would move to, I’d say it was more of a case of him creating his vision, then making that happen. Extremely admirable and a clear example for many of us in following our dreams/visions.

Laurel

Wow,
thanks so much for this beautiful tribute. Steve Job’s passing affected me more than that of really anyone I
didn’t know personally. I think this tribute really fits this blog, because so much of how Steve lived is an example of what you try to share with us with your blog.
thanks Celes.

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Thanks so much Laurel. I agree too – the way Steve Jobs lived his life is indeed an exemplification of many things which I share here at PE. For this reason I feel he’s a strong role model in living our life to the fullest (perhaps not in his temperament and controversial people skills, but definitely in all other aspects).

Amanda

An inspiring post and tribute.

It’s amazing how you manage to get out 11 things we can learn out of a single man.

Thanks Celes for this amazing post!! :clap:

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Thank you Amanda!

http://www.healthmoneysuccess.com Vincent

Hi Celes,

This is a wonderful post. Steve Jobs is not only a visionary and creative genius, I also see him as an inspiration to many. These are really great lessons that will help someone to achieve excellence. It is sad to see him go but his work and speeches that he left for us have influenced many.

Cheers,
Vincent

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Hey Vincent, I agree with you. He truly inspired and influenced many – I personally felt very, very inspired while I was reading up on his life history and accomplishments to write the post. I’m happy for him though that he lived his life to the full and made every day count while he was alive – the outpour of emotions from everyone in reaction to his death says it all. His family must be really proud of him.

http://avene.org Glenn

Great article Celes! You’ve clearly done your homework on this one. If you’re interested, have a look on Youtube for the interview he did alongside Bill Gates from a number of years ago before the iPad etc. In that particular interview it was Bill Gates who predicted the future of computing would be a tablet device. Steve Jobs and Apple clearly borrowed that idea and ran with it.

Sadly, I knew he didn’t have much time left after seeing some photos of him in a newspaper article a month or so ago. He couldn’t walk and had a guy helping him along.

I didn’t know it was Bill Gates who predicted the rise of tablet device. And also funny/very characteristic of Steve/Apple to borrow/”steal” the idea, given one of his less known quotes:

“Ultimately it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you’re doing. I mean Picasso had a saying, he said good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas and I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.” – Steve Jobs, in the 1996 documentary Triumph of the Nerds

I didn’t know his health condition was that bad. I think it’s amazing he fought on for so long after being diagnosed with the condition in 2003. I’ve always read about his ailing health on/off in passing, but as I mentioned in the article I never kept myself abreast of his/Apple’s updates. I did read in many places (during my research) that he was known to zealously safeguard news regarding his health. I only wish the best for him in his afterlife and that his family is in a good place.

http://Sylkwan.blogspot.com Shiroh

Thank you Celes, i admire the way you do your articles and your bold courage to share your life with us. Steve Jobs will be celebrated for many years to come. He really is an inspiration.

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Thank you Shiroh. Steve’s name will surely go down as one of the greatest icons in the 21st century. His contributions in the technology world have been tremendous.

http://www.mlquotes.com/authors/steve_jobs/ Max

I didn’t even know this guy, but one thing is sure, he was truly inspiring. Even before his death, I was looking at his videos, interviews, etc

So thank Celes for putting up this great article. I think you summed up 11 life lessons pretty well here. I will come back here for sure to re-read it!

Cheers,
Max

There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind. -Steve Jobs

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/ Celes

Thanks Max for sharing the quote from Steve. One of the lesser known things about Steve is his great interest in Buddhism. It’s probably part of what contributed to his constant emphasis on focus and simplicity. From what I’ve read, he was also a vegetarian too.

http://www.mlquotes.com Max

Wow, good link here. Thanks for that!

http://www.personality-blog.com Roland Kopp-Wichmann

Hi Celestine,
I love your Personal Exellence Book and was impressed by your last article about Steve that I took the eleven headlines from your post but wrote my own content here: http://goo.gl/7h88l

Anyway, turns out that Steve ran Apple in a tight fisted sort of way, he contributed to child labor, he used to belittle his employees on a regular basis. Follow the link to read more. I think one has to be well rounded – not just externally successful but internally as well. This stuff makes it seem like he wasn’t after all.

http://personalexcellence.co Celes

Hey Kris! Thanks for sharing an alternate side of the discussion with us. :hug:

To be honest, I can’t comment on the other side of Steve Jobs since I don’t know him personally, but I think the key is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. For what it’s worth, I don’t think he was a god or saint, and he would be subjected to his own list of shortcomings as everyone else. (As I’ve shared in the post, I don’t follow any of his work closely nor I care about it, but regard him as someone respectable due to the overall way he led his life/approached his goals/dreams). Also, just based on what I’d read before about him, his management style/way of handling people is definitely something I’d *not* personally adopt myself. But I can easily think of people who would actually *agree* to his approach of dealing with people, for their own reasons.

At the end of the day everyone has things about them which people disagree/agree with, so it’s most important to just take whatever aligns most with you and use that as a role model example. I respect Steve for his vision, tenacity and commitment to excellence, which is what inspired me to write this post. As for the other things I don’t agree with, there’s no need for me to buy into them, nor resist them – I just focus on the better stuff because those are the things worth my attention. This is the same approach I use in dealing with other things/people/situations in life.

Regarding pursuing personal excellence (at what cost?), the thing is personal excellence is up to us to define. Most narrowly define it as material success. But at Personal Excellence what I consistently push for (not sure if it’s been coming out clearly, now that I see your question) is defining excellence in your own terms, then pursuing them in full throttle. Excellence to one person may be alignment to values of connection, kindness, and success, while excellence to another may be purely monetary. And that’s fine. There’s no right or wrong. Everyone is different and no 2 people are the same, nor do they need to be the same. At the end of the day, it’s all about living true to what we believe in and living our life to the fullest.

K.S.B.

Yeah, I definitely agree that a lot of great lessons can be learned from him nonetheless. I guess I just got the impression that everyone was treating him like a saint (including myself).

I guess we disagree about personal excellence though. I think though people may define it differently that there is ultimately a basic standard of personal excellence (one that is well rounded) that all people can achieve. So, to those who pursue only lots of money, I’d say they had a poor understanding of human potential (although I wouldn’t try to get in their way). So, maybe right and wrong aren’t the terms to use, I’d say instead that there are varying degrees of excellence (good, better, best, optimal, not as good as it could be). I’m speaking here of excellence in a holistic, “big picture” sort of way. Obviously, people come to Personal Excellence for different reasons – some of which may just be to hone a particular talent/skill. That’s fine. But I’d still warn anyone hoping to follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs (be the best tech/computer geek ever) to remember that life isn’t just about your external achievements (or even about just you).

http://www.enriching-life.com Michaela

Dear Celes, thx for this fabulous post. These are 11 great lessons to keep in our hearts. Steve will be greatly missed and now it’s up to us to walk in his tracks. Michaela

http://www.sparklife.com.au Gordon

Great summary of Steve Jobs Celes!

Love this quote ‘because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do’

I cant wait to get my hands on his autobiography to be available 2fourth Oct.
He obviously had a sharp mindset, I imagine the themes of his book will be on vision, Innovation, passion, courage and sacrifice….check it out on Amazon folks.

cheers
Gordon

http://beginideas.com/blog Usman Uddin

Celes,
I love this article and the examples! I really enjoy reading about how visionaries like Steve Jobs DREAM BIG! We need more people like him to spread the wisdom and learn from him.

I just recently wrote an article referencing Steve Jobs to one of my favorite books:

Terrific post pulling out and holding up for us all to see and learn his life lessons. Great messages in how to live our passions and listen to our authentic self.
Thank you for doing such a wonderful job magnifiying some great lessons.
I see why Lori Deschene (Tiny Buddha) considers you an exemplary example of a great blogger.

http://coachingwithjoe.com Joe Lee

One of the greatest lessons. The greatest thing starts somewhere. But how many actually are reluctant to start because it so much less glamourous. Or they are waiting for a nicer office or better systems. They wait for everything to be perfect before they will start. They are looking for what’s wrong, rather than what’s right.

http://npwap.wen.ru Dipendra

Nice post. Thank you.

Jacque Saptoe

It’s amazing how musch we take for granted when we read the blogs of other peoples roads they have had to walk in life. It actually makes you take cognisance of what we have and what are we doing with it and maybe start aiming our goal at taking our may blessings and sharing it with others and make a difference in the world no matter how small. Most of all stop the thinking that things must be they way they are….CHANGE IT AT ANY COST.

Marie Kris Rodriguez

Hello Celes! This is such a great post. It speaks to me. It is very concise filled with best practices from the life of a visionary success story who never let his successes make him settle. I like your writing. I like how Steve also shared that he understood “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” A best-selling book implied that it is the wise who know that life is fleeting, and that’s where they get their wisdom. They get and squeeze the most out of its brevity. Reading this, I now truly believe Steve Jobs to be a very very wise and successful man. Kudos to you and this post. Wishing you the best in your life call, in this new venture of a blog and may you continue to be a change agent this world needs (like Steve Jobs) in your own unique way.

About Celes

Celestine Chua is the founder of Personal Excellence, your #1 site to achieve personal excellence. She believes in your magic and is here to help you achieve your highest potential in life.